For a while it looked like the UK had everything lined up in order to put an end to the years of shame and score a sixth victory. But then the guys had to sing as well.
Blue - I Can (UK 2011)
It really seemed like a promising package when presented to the audience. There was a powerful, contemporary pop song with a bit of an edge. Blue had rather a large fan base around the continent and were a very impressive name for being a UK eurovision entrant.
There were some reports that they had been singing badly at various tv shows when promoting the song, but I was dead sure they would give their absolute best on the final in order to show who was wearing the pants.
So much for dead sure.
Ten years of career, collaborations with the likes of Stevie Wonder and Elton John, loads of concerts under their belt. All this counted for nothing when they stumble out on stage, giving a most insecure impression, skidding across some of the more important notes of the song.
They recover some of their former glory before the song is over, but then it is too late. Many of the young, rather inexperienced, singers from countries like Austria, Slovenia, Finland and Estonia have all given better performances.
Europe is left pretty unimpressed and, even though an eleventh place is not to be frowned upon by the UK these days, what could have been a triumph turned into something that is OK. Pretty good, but not smashing.
Too bad.
My grade: 3 / 5
